


Kindred Spirits

by Imagined



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, BAMF Loki (Marvel), Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Minor Character Death, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tony Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 11:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12863793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagined/pseuds/Imagined
Summary: Post-Thor TDW. Two lonely individuals, at first sight completely different, find themselves to be kindred spirits. Loki leaves Asgard and his disguise as Odin behind when he hears Thanos is on the way, and finds an unexpected haven with Tony Stark. However, hiding does not solve anything and the Mad Titan is coming, whether they're ready or not.





	Kindred Spirits

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Just because the trailer for Infinity War arrived today, I thought I'd post this one shot. I wrote half of this some time after I first watched The Dark World, which is the reason it is set after that. The other half, I wrote today. I hope you enjoy! And again, I'm not a native speaker, so if you find a mistake, please correct me.

It is a beginning.

There is no greater plan, nor a manipulation. Not this time – this time, it is survival. This time it is revenge and returning to playing behind the scenes. Grand gestures don’t work out for Loki and he doubts they ever will.

Pretending to be a king is lonely, but it fulfils his wishes ultimately. Thanos thinks him dead, if luck is on his side for once, and Asgard is his as it should have been from the moment Odin picked up a small Jötunn runt, cunning and cleverer than the others.

It is a beginning, if only a rather unsatisfying one for all he dreamed about it. But once it ends, he will find another beginning to get it right.

~*~

‘’My King,’’ Fandral says and he bows. Loki would snigger, if this had not been the standard procedure for as long as he has been here. No one knows who they really bow for, after all, and they all think him dead. Even though he had ‘died’ respectfully, giving his life for Thor and his mortal, he can now fully hear the murmurs about his person. He loathes Asgard all the more for it.

‘’Speak,’’ Loki allows. Fandral rises with a serious expression on his face. Loki has known this man for years, but rarely with such a look on his face. Fandral is not one to take things seriously; those are tasks for Lady Sif and Hogunn. 

‘’We have found traces of technology from outside the Nine Realms, my King. War ships. They appear to be aiming for Asgard, but Heimdall knows their origins not.’’

Loki closes his eyes for a second, controlling his breathing. He thought – but of course. Thanos would not be impressed with his tricks, no matter how he had fooled the whole of Asgard. Loki has spent a year in his not-so tender care, fully exposed to the Mad Titan’s powers. The only one to know his soul better than Loki himself is Thanos.

Loki has not fooled him and now he will pay the price – 

Unless. He knows part of Thanos’ plans as well. The Infinity Stones, those are what Thanos is after and he is the only one who knows it. The Tesseract is in Asgard. It could be that is Thanos’ actual goal, but he will not take the risk. He will not spend another minute with the Mad Titan.  
He has to run.

~*~

It takes preparation. Loki, as the Allfather, makes decisions and sets up defence. He knows Thanos well enough to know it will not help; even if the Titan himself does not come, his adopted children are well trained and loyal. Loki hates to think he was once like them to the Allfather – taken for higher purpose. 

There will be an army as well, though part of it has been blown up by the mortal Stark. No, the Chitauri are a real threat, if a smaller one than before, but Odin would not know of this. No one ever asked Loki what had happened after he let himself fall – after he tried to die, did they forget? – so Loki sets up measures like Odin would do. Just the tiniest bit more, for it may give him some more time, but more he dares not do. Odin is not a man of defence but of attack, after all.

When a month after Fandral’s news the Allfather is missing in Asgard, the world panics. Loki laughs bitterly, because he was not such a bad king after all.

~*~

He considers going to Jötunheim, but Midgard wins over in the end. Jötunheim might be the last place where he is expected, but Loki has no wish to remain in his original home. Moreover, it would mean taking on his blue skin and he is not ready to become that, yet. He doubts he ever will be. So, Midgard it is.

He is hurting when he arrives through his paths and finds himself in an alley in the very city he tried to destroy. The secret passages are hardly without their dangers, and very unpredictable in their own way. For two days he manages to fit in somewhat, trying to work out a plan beyond ‘staying alive’, until he finds himself face to face with Tony Stark.

For a few moments, all Loki does is stare at his enemy. How bitter it is, to fall right into the hands of those who want him dead when all he does is try to run from it.

But that does not happen. The human cracks a weak smile and waves uncertainly. ‘’You here for your drink, or world domination?’’

~*~

Stark hides him from the others, Loki finds out. The mechanic voice speaks with him, always sounding mildly judging, but when Stark is there, he never sounds like that. At first, he was wary. Later on, he grew more open.

Loki learns that Stark has many masks, the metal one the most obvious of all. Then there is this mask he does for those he calls ‘press’, though whatever they want of him Loki knows not. There are the masks for acquaintances, masks for his friends and masks for his mechanic voice. Loki knows this, because he is the god of lies, and thus he is the god of masks. They are such good masks Stark himself barely knows they are there and so Loki knows he has done this from birth.

Unmasking the man, Loki takes care not to hurt him. After all, Loki knows best of all what is at stake when you find out you have lived a lie.

~*~

Stark punishes himself, Loki knows. He does not do it on purpose, but he does it nonetheless. When he comes out of a fight, he will not go to medic and he will not drink the pain away. He will go back to work to make himself better and those he loves safer and he will not allow himself to heal.

Loki chastises him more than once when this happens and every time Stark gets mad. Usually, they despise each other after this. Stark will not talk to him for a few days and then they will go back like nothing ever happened. When they talk during the fight – if they talk at all – it will be to the point and harsh.

He wants to break the cycle and so the next time Stark walks out of his suit with a well-hidden grimace – though Loki sees and Loki knows –he pulls him along wordlessly. Stark, surprisingly, obeys. Loki sits him down on the far-too-expensive couch and searches for the damage done by today’s ‘wanna-be world conqueror’, in Stark’s words. He does his best not to think he was once like that, too.

Once he has found Stark’s injuries, he will add a touch of magic and bandage it. A new habit is created and Loki has a hard time reassuring himself he does not care.

~*~

News comes in when Loki has been there for two months. He does not know what it is, but there is a letter in Stark’s hand and a few empty bottles next to him. It has done little to salvage whatever has happened, because there are still tears leaking down from Stark’s eyes and he is trembling. 

Loki sits next to him for hours upon hours until Stark’s tears dry on his face, and after, he brings him to bed. Stark is awake, but his eyes are vacant and lifeless. He sleeps when Loki says it and Loki watches the still form as he takes the letter from Stark’s grip. Ripping his eyes away from the man, he starts reading of the death of someone named James Rhodes.

~*~

Stark’s eyes stay empty the entire week. He says no word and makes no move to go down into the lab. Only when Loki begins screaming at him, his voice hoarse and desperate and he is almost crying, Stark rouses from his ghost-like state and watches Loki with some sort of awe on his face. Then he proceeds to tell him of his youth, of a father that kept comparing him to someone long believed dead, of people never knowing what to do with him. Stark tells of others that do not understand the way his mind works and who bullied him for it.

It sounds so familiar Loki can’t look Stark in the eyes. Then Stark tells him how he found a friend in his most desperate moment, and how that friend was the first to stay. Stark tells him how Rhodes was the only that stood beside him.

Loki thinks he’d like someone like that.

Stark falls silent for a second, only to ask him to come to Rhodes’ grave a few minutes after in a small voice Loki has never heard from him before.

~*~

Loki does not know what it is Stark and he have. They trust each other in a world full of people they cannot trust. Loki has grown fond of the eccentric human and he believes that the sentiment is returned.

It is strange, for him, to feel this again.

~*~

He wakes up screaming. Stark is looming above him, eyes big and liquid, the first thing Loki sees as he shakes himself from his nightmare. ‘’Stark,’’ he rasps, pushing himself to the back of the bed. He wants comfort, but not this staring. A man not knowing how to deal with dreams is a weak man, according to the whole of Asgard. Loki has seen too much to not be bothered in his sleep, though.

‘’It’s okay, I know what it’s like,’’ Stark says and gets into his bed, uninvited. Loki does not particularly mind. Stark tells him of his own nightmares, but Loki dares not tell of his own, and they fall asleep both trembling but they wake up refreshed. First thing in the morning, Loki kisses the man who has grown dearer to him than any other.

~*~

‘’Stark,’’ Loki tries as Stark throws a wrench through his lab. ‘’Stark, calm down.’’

‘’Fuck off!’’ Stark snaps at him. His eyes, normally a warm brown which remind Loki of autumn, give away his desperation. Despite the very real anger he emits, Loki knows that if he walks away now, he will have lost everything. Loki loves Stark – he knows not when it happened, but he is loyal to those he loves. He will not give up on Stark, who loves him back just as much. Not when Stark needs him to stay.

‘’I will not,’’ he simply says and Stark gives a frustrated yell, kicking a working bench. Loki is sure he has hurt his toes in the process, but he says nothing of it. Once his lover has calmed down, he will heal them. There are priorities to be had.

Stark’s mouth twitches and he stamps closer to Loki. Loki does not move – Stark cannot harm him, that is true, but it would have the same effect as walking away. Like Loki, Stark needs someone that is strong and can handle him. Like Loki, Stark needs someone to be the pillar to a crumbling structure.

Stark looks him right in the eyes, even though he is shorter than Loki. His voice is rough and dangerously low. How Loki responds to what he will say next, too, can decide what happens to their relationship. ‘’What do you say when you’re called Odinson, Loki?’’

Loki keeps still. Lies will not help him here, and so he decides on the truth. ‘’I say I am no son of Odin’s.’’

Stark takes a deep breath. ‘’You spoke to me of similarities, a few weeks earlier.’’ Loki says nothing, glancing at Stark. He does not break their eye contact. It seems to make it all the more intense. Stark grimaces before he looks away. ‘’It bugs me as much as it does you.’’

Loki gives away nothing, but he is far smarter than most, which is another parallel. 

‘’Tony,’’ Loki drawls instead of ‘Stark’, as if he has not feared this kind of intimacy will drive this man away, despite what has already happened between them. Stark’s – Tony’s – smile tells Loki he’s not fooled. The kiss, after, may have helped as well.

~*~

Unsurprisingly, it’s Natasha who finds out first.

Actually, it wasn’t Natasha. It was an early delivery boy who’s found them making out on Tony’s couch, but Tony has given him enough of a tip to keep his mouth shut.

Two hours later, all of SHIELD is on their doorstep, until Thor flies in to demand of Loki what he’d done to the Allfather. Apparently, he had become less efficient. Loki was laughing so hard he had trouble materializing Tony and himself away.

~*~

They hide.

‘’I can’t lose you,’’ Tony tells him. Loki feels much the same.

~*~

The Mad Titan is coming for him. Loki feels it in the air, after these months of hiding and finding something in himself he thought lost. ‘’They will burn this world down,’’ Loki tells Tony for the tenth time. Tony keeps shaking his head and says he will not leave his home. 

That means Loki cannot leave, as well.

~*~

They stand and fight.

They have not made up with Tony’s team. Loki don’t think they ever will, but he knows that if he says that, Tony will be hurt. They have never understood him, but Loki understands. He was much the same – taking affection where he could get it, despite the fact it was all fake. 

When the Chitauri come close, Loki feels cold seeping in his bones. In dreams, he can hear his own screams, he can feel Thanos taking hold of his being. He sees himself as he tries to fall in a void to end his life. He sees himself fail, and he cries out as Tony shakes him awake.

There is nothing that truly helps, except perhaps the slight reducing of the cold when Tony keeps trying, because Tony knows what torture can do to a man.

~*~

They’re much the same.

They have dark hair. They have big egos. They both have a high intellect. They come from a good family. They are both what some would call divas. They like attention. 

They are both lonely. They are both misunderstood. They find their way with sharp words and charming words, knowing what will bring the desired reaction. They were both used to their father’s advantages. They are both abused – perhaps not physically, but mentally. They know the way torture feels on the skin and lives in the mind.

Loki has never given much thought about what kind of person he could share a life with. He never truly thought he would get any kind of happy ending with anyone. He doesn’t think he would have expected Tony, though.

Now he knows that someone he wants is someone who knows what he means without having to say a word – and definitely not balanced. Yes, if Loki is a god, Tony is his mortal counterpart.

Loki loves Tony, and Tony loves him back fiercely with a heart that time will kill.

~*~

Midgard drives Thanos away, but they are not without losses. Thanos would have won, eventually, but it is not about Midgard.

Tony is sitting a few feet away, staring blankly at the wall. Loki is more worried about this reaction than the anger he had expected.

They almost died, but Loki has brought them to Alfheim. He knows Thanos will come here once he has regrouped his army. He has informed the King of this – and if they want to bring him back to the Allfather, no one has mentioned it. Instead, Loki and his mortal are welcomed guests, like he used to be when he was but a child.

‘’I am not ready,’’ Tony says and he looks Loki right in the eyes. Loki knows what he means, but it does not mean he likes what he hears.

‘’I am sorry this had to be done, but I would not allow him to kill either one of us.’’

‘’I know.’’ After that, Tony is silent for a few minutes. Loki waits patiently. ‘’Can you bring me back? Alone?’’

Loki goes numb, but Tony stands up and strokes his cheek with his thumb. It is much more tender than any kiss they could have shared. ‘’Not for ever,’’ the man murmurs. ‘’Temporarily. I heard you talking with one of the elves. An immortality potion, eh?’’

If Loki had the ability to blush, he thinks this would be the moment for it. As it is, he has always been unperturbed. It has driven Tony crazy more than once. ‘’If you would take it, yes.’’

Tony grins and kisses him sweetly. He needs to stand on his toes for it until Loki gives in and lifts him up. Then the man swings his thighs around Loki’s waist for his grip and nuzzles their noses together. ‘’It’s like a marriage proposal. You’re a secret, manipulative sap. Yeah, I’d take it. But I still want to go back.’’

‘’I cannot live on Midgard forever,’’ Loki whispers, a pang of regret removing the joy he felt at Tony’s acceptance, but Tony smiles again.

‘’Not forever, I said. A few years, at most. I lived there my entire life. You can sort out things with the rulers of these realms, to get rid of Thanos. I’ll help Earth rebuild their defences, sort out what to do with Stark Industries and the Avengers.’’ Tony looks up, his eyes determined.

‘’Let me say goodbye to them, and to Pep. Let me go to Rhodey’s grave one last time and kick my father’s. See MIT again and some other people I met. Right a few more wrongs. Make them stronger. Finish my bucket list. Then I’ll retire. I’ll leave them to their own. Take my suits and JARVIS and make sure my other bots have a home. I’ll come with you, to wherever you want to go. I want to see all the realms. More importantly, I want to see them with you. I love you, and I might be as much of a secret sap as you. We’ll make mistakes, okay? You’ll get pissed at me. But I love you.’’

‘’As I love you,’’ Loki says, a small smile tugging at his lips. ‘’I understand. I will bring you back – after you have drunk the potion. It will make you stronger. More durable. And I will visit.’’

Instead of answering, Tony kisses him.

~*~

It is, perhaps, not enough to build your whole future on one person. Not fair to expect the world from someone as flawed as you. But Loki has always been someone who is used to loneliness. He is someone that likes solitude, to an extent. He hates large crowds, because it makes it harder to manipulate someone. He knows Tony likes them, though, that the mob is his specialty. 

So he builds his world on Tony. While the mortal sleeps, their last night before their departure, Loki draws some runes on Tony’s thigh to last for as long as their love does. One stands for Tony’s love; it is bright, like Tony himself. The other stands for Loki’s love. That one shines as much as the other, though perhaps a bit less conspicuous. It fits them.

Moreover, they fit well together. The whole world will know Tony is Loki’s, and Loki will burn anyone who dares to suggest otherwise.

Loki creates matching runes on his own thigh, so to be as owned by Tony as he is owned by Loki. It is odd that being loved makes him feel safer than he ever has before.

~*~

Along the way, after dropping Tony off at Midgard and running around to convince several realms to defend the universe against Thanos, Loki stops being hunted by Asgardians. It helps that he has given Thor the location of the Allfather, he estimates. He visits all important cities in Alfheim, joins them to make spells for protection. Advises them on matters of war, because he grew up in Asgard, after all. There are a few girls that follow him around – a few males as well – but Loki simply smiles and states they have better things to spend their time on.

The two bright runes on his thigh give him reassurance every night.

~*~

Most realms are dark, but Loki is no innocent man. He visits them and if they don’t listen, he duals them. He persuades them and they fall for his tricks, like they always do. He is hailed by Kings for his quick thinking and sharp tongue and wonders what they would say of his beloved Tony. They offer him their daughters if he can save them from Thanos – because they fear the Mad Titan almost as much as Loki does – but Loki always declines with a smirk on his face, because he has someone far better than their lovely daughters.

The Fire Giants are perhaps the most courteous, which is a surprise. Loki’s true origins are no common knowledge, but even then were these creatures never the most gallant.

It turns out they have been wanting to fight Thanos for a long time. Loki is all too happy to use their forces for his own good.

~*~

He barely believes it. He has passed all realms now, has spoken with all kings and queens. All have undertaken action – some less than Loki would like, but they all have done their bit. He has visited Tony thrice on Midgard, where he was happily thrown into some of the preparations Tony had taken for his home planet and then some more. Not once has the light of his runes faded – not Tony’s and not his own.

It have been several months since he has last seen him and Loki is feeling lonely again. He remembers the way Tony’s hands had absentmindedly stroked his thigh when they had nothing to do and Loki steers his hand to his own thigh. Of course, the runes are covered by cloth, but he can feel them nonetheless.

‘’Loki.’’

Her voice is strong, unwavering. Her hair is unbound and waves behind her. Her jaw is set determined and for a moment she reminds him of the man he was just thinking of; but she, like all others, has never understood. 

‘’Lady Sif,’’ he greets, and bows for her. Her brow twitches at her title, but she does not comment. That has ever been the only thing she differs in; she does not rise up to the bait Loki offers. He has a grudging respect for her – despite the fact it is unrequited.

She watches him for a few seconds. ‘’You seem less crazy.’’

He snorts. ‘’You, however, haven’t changed a bit.’’

Sif wets her lips and takes a step closer. ‘’I have spoken with Thor. He seems convinced his brother is returned to him. Is this true?’’

Loki smiles, wryly. ‘’Does it matter?’’

‘’It does to him.’’

‘’You never trusted me when I was his brother. Yes, I have changed. Yes, I want Thanos gone. But I have not done that for you or for Thor. You are not worth changing for, Lady Sif.’’

Her glare intensifies. It always does, when they have a conversation which lasts longer than the standard greeting. ‘’Asgard is your home. Will you defend it?’’

‘’No,’’ Loki says.

~*~

Tony hugs him when he comes to Midgard again.

‘’How long?’’ Loki asks, after he has kissed Tony’s forehead.

The man shrugs and looks up to him. ‘’I only need to say bye to Pepper. I’m procrastinating, darling.’’

Loki laughs, because that is perhaps the greatest difference between the two of them. They spend the night under a summer sky in Midgard, not as beautiful as the one in Asgard, but all the more precious to him.

~*~

Thanos attacks Asgard.

Loki does not feel much affected by it, but there is still some fear that lingers in his mind. He will not fight, because on Asgard, there is nothing to fight for. He wishes he had Tony with him to comfort him, but he does not. Instead he reads a few of Tony’s books on astrophysics and hides himself in thick furs, trembling despite himself.

~*~

‘’I have a goal in mind,’’ Tony says the next time Loki visits him. By now, it has been four years since their relationship began – three months since his last visit – and Loki is already as familiar with Tony as he is with Asgard’s library, which says a lot. Tony, in the meanwhile, knows Loki just as intimately. He would fear it, this closeness, if he did not adore the alien feeling as much. 

‘’Pray tell me,’’ Loki says, as his worries fall away. He circles his arms around the man, and Tony wrestles to face him. His skin has tanned some more. His shoulders are tense. Even Tony, in shielded Midgard, has worries over Thanos. Loki knows it is compulsory, and he would not be in love with Tony had the man been someone who did not care; still, he wishes it was not needed.

Tony smiles. ‘’I want to marry you,’’ he whispers. Loki blinks, then grins back and kisses this man, this idiotic, stupid, understanding human who has become the anchor of a very grim existence.

Marriage, in Asgard, is more of a formality. It comes after a bonding, which is the true core of a relationship. For all intents and purposes, Loki and Tony have already bonded. Loki knows much, and he knows as well that in Midgard marriage serves another purpose. A sign of a relationship that is never meant to end, even though some do. A sign of a shared life, of two people against the rest of the world. In their case, Loki suspects, it is very much true.

He has also picked up on another fact of marriage, in more than one realm. ‘’Have you bought me a ring?’’ he asks softly as Tony grins at him.

Tony’s smile grows wider. ‘’Better yet,’’ he exclaims, ‘’I have made one for you. The second isn’t ready, but I hadn’t expected you back yet, sugar buns.’’

Indeed, Loki can only visit sporadically. Whereas Thanos’ attacks grow more frequent, Loki’s leisure time becomes visibly less. In the few years he and Tony have been separated, he has only visited seven times. Two of those were only for a few hours. He misses the closeness, more yet, he misses Tony. The stolen nights aren’t enough for him.

Loki kisses him. ‘’I will marry you,’’ he says. 

Tony’s smile grows more sincere. ‘’In all of the Nine Realms,’’ he says and Loki frowns at him. Tony gets it, as he always does. ‘’I want to marry you officially, so everyone knows it. All of the worlds. This one, Asgard, Alfheim. All of them.’’

Tony jumps up to bring their foreheads together. ‘’We can blow stuff up. It’ll be fun. I mean, blowing stuff up is always great. It’ll be even greater to do it together, I mean, I wanna see how much firepower goes in that magic of yours. So, you wanna marry me nine times over and get a house in the suburbs of some magical world?’’

‘’Yes,’’ Loki says, ‘’Yes to all nine times.’’

~*~

Asgard is rebuilding and Jötunheim is on fire.

Loki is safely on Vanaheim. In his room there is a messenger from Asgard. He is young and foolish and Loki pays him no heed. The young warrior is telling him, carefully and politely, to make his way back to Asgard because the Allfather would speak with him. The man is foolish – what he says are thinly veiled orders, to both the warrior and himself. Loki does not obey, not anymore.

Instead, his eyes skim over the content of a small piece of paper, obviously ripped from a contract. On the backside Tony has messily written a message to him, one far more important than anything Odin has to say, short and to the point. _I love you. Don’t forget it. Be safe and come back soon._

He sends away the messenger and rubs over his thigh with the hand on which his ring sits.

~*~

In the end, Loki has to go back to Jötunheim.

He has only been there to spur its King, Býleistr, into action. Because the Jötnar have always been fighters, it did not take long to convince them to fight Thanos. Moreover, it was one of the last planets Loki had visited and all the other realms had already accepted his terms.

But Jötunheim is weak. They don’t have the Casket and Thanos’ attacks have taken their soldiers. Few Jötnar are left and Býleistr can do nothing to stop it. Perhaps that is why Thanos has taken it as his residence.

Býleistr is waiting for him when he gets there. Loki gives him a nod, fear curling in his belly. He has not forgotten Thanos’ treatment yet, and it is too recent to have faded in a memory. Too short a time, and too little of it spent with Tony.

Yes, he fears this day, but the only way for the fear to ever end is to win, today, now Thanos has had his own losses to deal with, and not yet time to regain his strength.

 _I love you,_ he thinks, as Býleistr points him to where Thanos is waiting, ever waiting, more of a snake than Loki can ever be.

Loki sneaks towards the hiding place. The further he gets, the less soldiers stay. They, too, fear this man, this creature, from beyond all they know. They have reason to be afraid.  
_Don’t forget it_ , Loki thinks, as he changes into his Jötunn form. It is more durable here. He walks alone, until a woman steps in front of him.

She has green skin and intense eyes. He knows of her, but they have never met. ‘’Are you here to fight me?’’ he asks. His voice is raspy and lower than usual. She smiled dangerously, lowering the spear she holds in one hand. 

‘’You are with a mortal, correct?’’ she asks him. Loki says nothing – everything he does will give him away. He is the best liar there is, but Thanos’ adopted children have other gifts they can use. She is silent, measuring him. ‘’You did not deserve the pain he inflicted upon you.’’

He stays quiet, and her smile grows remorseful. ‘’I, too, love a mortal. Will you take down Thanos with me?’’

She speaks the truth – and more. Loki can see, how she fears for the one she loves. She means to bring down her adoptive father, as Loki once did. ‘’Are you ready to kill him, Gamora?’’ he asks, and he sound weary and old. Perhaps, in a way, he is. ‘’I killed my true father for my adoptive one. Then I wanted to kill him as well.’’

She is determined, though. That, and braver than Sif could ever be. ‘’I am.’’ 

It is all Loki needs, and together they continue.

 _I love you_ , he thinks, _Don’t forget it_.

He sees Tony’s warm eyes. He remembers how they looked like empty, and in joy, and in sadness. He remembers how they looked at him when he just woke up and they were the first thing he focused on. He remembered how they shone when Tony told him he was beautiful and the wetness of them when he held in his tears over Rhodey.

He remembers how he found happiness – how he did not expect it, when he ran from Thanos. Now he is running towards him.

Tony makes him want to be a better man.

 _Be safe_. He feels Tony’s lips and hears his joyful cries as Loki dragged him towards the bed. He remembers how he patched Tony up after fights. He remembers how Tony would always check Loki over when they saw each other, worry in his eyes and love in his touch.

_Come back soon._

_I love you. Don’t forget it._

~*~

It is a beginning.

There is no greater plan, nor a manipulation. This time, he did it for love and it seems to be making a lot more sense than his earlier plan.

He still isn’t one for grand gestures, but Tony is, and he throws a party when Loki finally heals of the wounds Thanos inflicted upon him.

That is not the complete story.

Loki does not remember much of what happened. Apparently, Gamora and he took out Thanos with the help of a few daring Jötnar and grateful warriors from all realms. Most of those had died, and Gamora was dying as well, but she had killed her father. She has been brought back to her own mortal and Loki had been given accommodations on Asgard, by orders of Odin and Thor.

This, as well, is not the whole story, but it is all Loki remembers and he sees Tony does not care for the battle – only for the outcome. When Loki woke up, he was in Asgard and his beloved Tony was sitting right next to him, silent tears on his cheeks.

Still, not all of those wounds have healed, Loki knows. Sometimes, he catches Tony’s glances and he worries, but only time can make it right, he knows.

‘’You almost died,’’ is all Tony says and all Loki can do is take him to his bed and show him how alive he still is. He is not sure which one of them needs it the most.

~*~

‘’Do you still need to go to Midgard?’’ Loki asks him in bed. Tony looks up to where Loki is sitting against his pillows. Tony’s hair is a beautiful mess and his torso is bare. There is a stark contrast between the white of the bed and his olive skin, and Loki touches it just to feel its warmth. 

Tony looks reluctant. ‘’I haven’t finished the second wedding ring yet,’’ he says. Loki leans down to kiss him, just because he can. He does what he wants, after all.

‘’Let me make it,’’ he says. Tony nods and pulls Loki on top of him. There’s not much talking, after that.

~*~

It is a beginning, one Loki prefers vastly over his previous one. As he sees his husband of four times already, and soon to be five, skip over to ask one of the dwarves something about the mining process, he smiles fondly. There is a small dwarf girl standing next to him, a child still. ‘’Do you love him?’’ she asks with a scrunch of her nose, as if she’s thinking very deeply about it.

‘’Yes,’’ Loki says, and that is all there is to say about it as Tony turns, smiles back and then disappears with one of the dwarves and his insatiable curiosity.

Another thing they have in common, that curiosity.


End file.
